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MG42 authenticity

Article about: Evening to you all I recently followed a post regarding the authenticity of a n MG42 . The help and advise was second to none. I would be very grateful if you could have a look at my pics an

  1. #1

    Default MG42 authenticity

    Evening to you all
    I recently followed a post regarding the authenticity of a n MG42 .
    The help and advise was second to none.
    I would be very grateful if you could have a look at my pics and see what you think about my MG42.
    In particular , if you zoom in on the butt stock , there is an eagle and swastika which I’m not sure about as I think it’s post war , has an olive green to it under the black paint.
    And I think it’s called the trunnion, marked WMF , a German company that manufactured arms in WW2 , but the part stands out from the rest of the gun ?
    Any help appreciated
    Thank you
    Corston


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  2. #2

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    Looks like a nice gun but I know they countinued making this post war and they where called mg53s and that might be what you have

  3. #3

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    This appears to be a wartime gun that's been retrofitted for postwar use in the Austrian army (Bundesheer). They were designated 'MG 74' in Austrian service.

    The grips and buttstock are modern MG74 parts, as evidenced by the remnants of olive paint. The eagle on the stock is almost certainly a spurious addition. The rest of the gun is WWII-era, correctly marked with three-letter manufacturer's code. The bolt may be an exception; I don't recognise the style of serial number on the underside, visible through the ejection port.

    The wartime receiver markings are all correct. The small 'BH' marking to the right of them appears to be an Austrian army eagle, with 'BH' almost certainly standing for 'Bundesheer', or 'Federal Army' in English.

    Quote by Historycollector61 View Post
    Looks like a nice gun but I know they countinued making this post war and they where called mg53s and that might be what you have
    It's not an M53. Those have a few prominent differences. Most notable is the barrel change door, which is secured with a large screw on wartime guns, but a rivet on the M53. The grips are typically shiny black plastic, vs the red/black bakelite on wartime guns (they also aren't interchangeable, meaning wartime grips won't fit a postwar gun) and the buttstock has a different profile. They are also profusely Yugo-marked, making it pretty tricky to pass them off as MG 42s.

    B.B.

  4. #4

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    Thank you very much , that’s good to know.
    I guess that if I want to throw money at it , I can bring it up to virtually all wartime spec.
    Just nice to know I wasn’t totally ripped off , just a little bit.
    Shame the deactivation was carried out by an untrained chimpanzee with no previous welding experience
    Best wishes
    Corston

  5. #5

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    Truth be told, it’s a pretty interesting example. You don’t see many MG 74 conversions like this, really not something you see every day! I think this is the first such example I’ve ever seen on the UK deact market.

    Replacing the stock and grip plates would be fairly straightforward, and not hideously expensive. If it were mine, I’d leave it as it is. As it stands, it’s a 95 percent wartime gun with some interesting postwar history.

    B.B.

  6. #6

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    That’s really interesting bb
    I presume the capital A on the barrel is post war?
    Although I did find a bit on line under the title “ re arming Austria “
    Very interesting. apparently within the French quarter of occupied Austria there was a warehouse full of captured weapons that were handed over to the Austrians in 1955.
    Also I’ve heard of a “stockpile A” again captured German weapons. Wondered if the A might be connected to the A on the barrel
    And what do you think of the trunnion with the WMF stamp and numbers on the side.
    Post War?
    And finally bb ,does the Austrian modifications effect the value in your opinion.
    Thank you very much for your help
    Corston

  7. #7

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    Very nice gun. There was two of them at last weekends gun show. One, not for sale and the other one way out of my league. $42,000 US, when I inquired. Not sure what the real price is though. Last I saw was $32K, still way out of my league. It would turn a few heads at the range, that is for certain.
    John

  8. #8

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    Thanks John
    Not sure how well it would go down at the range.
    De activated guns can’t be much fun.
    Might be handy as a doorstop on the clubhouse door I guess
    But thank you for your post to the thread
    Corston

  9. #9

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    In answer to the question of value, this would be worth less than a pedigree MG 42, but not by much. It's about 95 percent wartime parts, and would be easy enough to return to 100 percent. It might be worth more to the right collector, particularly those interested in the postwar Austrian army, or simply someone looking for an uncommon variation of a postwar-refurbished MG 42.

    The 'WMF' stamp is most likely a postwar addition. The only markings you'll find on wartime guns are WaffenAmt eagles and three-letter manufacturer's codes. If I had to hazard a guess, it has some connection to its postwar Austrian refurbishment. The trunnion itself must be original, as it's an integral part of the receiver and can't be removed. As for the 'A' marking on the barrel, that might be wartime. Barrels can have all kinds of weird markings on them, depending on who manufactured them and when.

    Quote by Rescue190 View Post
    Very nice gun. There was two of them at last weekends gun show. One, not for sale and the other one way out of my league. $42,000 US, when I inquired. Not sure what the real price is though. Last I saw was $32K, still way out of my league. It would turn a few heads at the range, that is for certain.
    John
    $42,000? Holy moley. That's an incredible price tag compared to those on this side of the pond, but then yours are a lot more fun than ours! Even with dealers nudging the prices up nowadays, you won't pay more than £4000 for a pedigree 42 in the UK. Just a few years ago you could have one for half that price. Ah, the benefit of hindsight!

    B.B.

  10. #10

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    Think you’ve answered everything I wanted to know bb
    My post was a “ should I have bought it “ rather than the usual and more sensible
    “ should I buy it “
    Thank you
    Corston

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